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Sugar is a sweet, crystalline carbohydrate typically extracted from sugar cane

and sugar beets. It is a non-nutritive empty calorie that robs the body of

vitamins and minerals. Refined sugars have many different names, such as

granulated (table) sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, raw

sugar, turbinado sugar, and malt. Even much commercial fructose is really pure

refined sugar.

 

Many people believe that sugar is only bad for you when ingested in enormous

amounts, when actually " normal " amounts are damaging to the body.

 

Here is a partial list of physical conditions caused or exacerbated by sugar in

the diet.

 

 

overweight

heart disease

 

--raised blood triglycerides

--sticky blood platelets

duodenal ulcers

--increased stomach acidity

hypoglycemia

diabetes

hyperactivity

kidney enlargement

liver enlargement

increase in uric acid in blood

cancer

hindered breakdown of dietary protein

cavities

--calcium leached from teeth

 

weakened immune system

PMS

yeast overgrowth

dependency

Refined sugar consumption is often at the root of these lesser physical

symptoms:

 

 

intense sleepiness not caused by lack of sleep

muscle fatigue

lethargy

pallor

coated tongue and persistent thirstiness

bad breath

heartburn/sour stomach

excessive and/or foul-smelling intestinal gas

flu-like symptoms

--upset stomach

--body ache

--feeling run-down

 

 

Sugar is addicting. The more you get, the more you want! Some would say it is

more addicting than heroin. It used to be only the rich could afford the luxury

of sugar, but by 1840 the sugar pushers were handing out free samples. Now, the

sugar industries have the largest advertising in the world. Less than 10 years

ago the average American consumed something like 153 pounds of sugar a year,

with a whopping 24% of their calories coming from sugar. No doubt today the

figures would be even more astounding. Many wonderful people are hooked on the

stuff, and those who attempt to quit the sugar habit find they have quite a

struggle on their hands. Going off sugar, like quitting most drugs, invites

withdrawal symptoms. The most common are headaches, chills, and body aches.

Sugar, like alcohol, is intoxicating. It creates an imbalance of

neurotransmitters in the brain. Mental and emotional disorders are often linked

to sugar in the diet.

 

Below are some of the mental/emotional symptoms that may be linked to eating

refined sugar:

 

 

irritability

manic-depressive tendencies

chronic or frequent bouts of depression

difficulty concentrating

forgetfulness or absentmindedness

lack of motivation

increasing undependability

loss of enthusiasm for plans and projects

inconsistency in thoughts and actions

situational personality changes

irrational thoughts

emotional outbursts

eating disorders

 

 

Only one third of a person’s sugar consumption is purchased as packaged sugar.

The rest is consumed in manufactured foods. Almost everything on store shelves

has sugar in it, even salt and cigarettes. Some foods are even required to have

sugar in them by the FDA. For instance, catsup cannot be called catsup if it

does not contain sugar.

 

When sugar is eliminated from the diet, all foods start to taste better. Taste

buds become more sensitive to the natural sweetness of foods. Soon, sugar

cravings begin to dwindle and control over ones eating becomes easier and

easier. Bodies start feeling better, calmer, and sleep improves.

 

Recommended Reading: Sugar Blues, by William Dufty

 

 

 

 

 

When I first began switching from a sick to a healthy way of eating, I had such

a horrendous addiction to sweets that I falsely thought I couldn’t handle any

type of sweet, whether sweetened with refined or unrefined sweeteners. After a

while, however, I began to experiment in the kitchen, first with honey, then

with molasses and barley malt syrup, and then I discovered my first dry natural

sweetener, maple syrup granules. I found that when I ate goodies sweetened with

these natural sweeteners, I didn’t get the overwhelming cravings that white

refined sugar always produced, I was able to stay in control of my food instead

of it controlling me, and I could think clearly and didn’t get the sugar

" crash. " What a blessing that discovery was!

 

But as in all things, too much of anything is not good for you. Even natural

sweets are best consumed sparingly, or you could be headed for trouble once

again. Any sweet, regardless of what it is sweetened with, is a concentrated

source of sugar. That means a high ratio of calories to quantity of food

compared to other foods, which could lead to unwanted weight gain. Also, humans

seem highly susceptible to a sweet tooth, which can lead to increasingly

frequent indulgence. An abundance of sweets in the diet deadens the tastebuds to

the natural good taste of other kinds of foods, like whole grains, fruits, and

vegetables, making the healthy way of eating less and less appealing (regular

ingestion of overly-salted food produces the same effect).

 

 

 

 

I’m glad you asked. Natural sweeteners are called " natural " by their virtue of

being unrefined or minimally refined from their natural occurring state. A

refined product, such as granulated white or brown sugar, has been through a

process which has stripped it of most of the plant from which it came, including

all the nutritional value. Manufacturers of natural sweeteners avoid most

refining processes in order to retain as much of the character of the whole food

as possible. Besides vitamins and minerals, the plant sources also contain many

different micronutrients important for the proper digestion, absorption and

utilization of the food. Refined sugars lack these crucial micronutrients,

causing the food to become more than just non-nutritive, but also a hazard to

the body.

 

Refined sugars enter the bloodstream very rapidly, causing and contributing to

health problems and creating the ideal conditions for the development of an

addiction. Many people consider sugar a legal, but deadly drug. Just like opium

is processed from the seeds of a poppy plant, sugar is also refined from plants:

sugar cane and beets. Natural sweeteners tend to enter the bloodstream more

slowly and are less apt to cause insulin related problems.

 

Natural sweeteners also tend to be much less sweet than refined sugars, reducing

the likelihood of a sweet-habit developing and causing less injury to the

integrity of the sense of taste.

 

Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame (NutraSweet) and saccharin have a long

list of negative side effects. Saccharin has long been known to be carcinogenic

(cancer-causing), yet the FDA has ruled that until a suitable replacement is

found, it can remain on the market with only a piddly little health warning on

product labels. Aspartame, an excitotoxin, has had more complaints noted against

it than all other artificial sweeteners in history combined. And aspartame has

been studied such a short time there is bound to surface more and more

unsettling evidence to prove it is unsafe for human consumption.

 

Choose natural sweets for your own health and for the health of your precious

children. Children depend on us to show by example the healthy way to live. Most

habits are well established early in life. I have successfully raised my two

boys from birth (now 5 and 7 years of age) on whole grains, seeds and nuts,

fruits, vegetables, nonfat/low-fat dairy products, a bit of lean meat, soy, and

natural sweets.

 

 

 

 

Stevioside

Natural Sweeteners

Healthier Sweetener Resource List

Aspartame (NutraSweet) Toxicity Info Center

Refined Sugar: The Sweetest Poison of All

 

 

 

 

 

Lick the Sugar Habit--Appleton

Synopsis: In this eye-opening book, Dr. Appleton shows how sugar upsets the body

chemistry and devastates the immune system--leading to a host of diseases.

Included in the book are self-tests to discover sugarholic tendencies and tests

for food allergies, 19 simple techniques to banish sugar cravings, and three

detailed, low-sugar food plans to ease into a low-sugar life.

 

Potatoes Not Prozac--DesMaisons

 

Potatoes Not Prozac: A Natural Seven-Step Dietary Plan to Control Your Cravings

and Lose Weight--DesMaisons, Pert (paperback) Customer Comment (rating=*****):

If you have struggled with food, mood and attitude, inner strength, will power,

the ability to focus and follow through -- what you need is this book, 7 simple

steps (to learn how to eat to support your brain chemistry) and a simple potato.

 

Sugar Blues--Dufty

Customer Review (rating=*****): " Try to Quit if You Think It's Not a Drug! I

read Sugar Blues years ago, and became a right-wingist, eliminating all sugar.

Over the years, sugar crept back in. Now I'm doing it again because of (1)

moodiness, (2) always being bloated, (3) loss of " real appetite " . Sugar in

EVERYTHING (even soups and vegetables) makes it very hard to stop totally but

what I remember most about William Duffy's comments were the similarity to

cocaine use when sugar was first introduced -- the first sugar users brought it

to parties and it was a great specialty. That hit home. "

 

Sugar Busters!: Cut Sugar to Trim Fat--Steward, Bethea, Andrews

Customer Comment (rating=*****): The best thing since sliced WHOLE WHEAT

BREAD!!! This book really makes nutritional sense. I have been battling excess

pounds since I quit smoking 4 years ago. I believe I have found the solution in

this book. No weighing, measuring, counting - THIS IS HEAVEN. I take my hat off

to these gentlemen for taking the time to explain it to me in layman's terms and

making cooking fun again. I have shared my new found information with

co-workers, who are running out to get their own copies. Thanks again for a job

well done.

 

 

Recommended Cookbooks

 

The Bread Machine Cookbook IV : Whole Grains & Natural Sugars-- German

 

Cooking With Honey : The Natural Way to Health and Better Eating --Paddlewheel

Press

 

The 'I Can't Believe This Has No Sugar' Cookbook--Buhr

 

Joy With Honey : More Than 200 Delicious Recipes That Make the Most of Nature's

Own Sweetener--Mech

 

Just Naturally Sweet : Recipes Utilizing Honey, Molasses, Sorghum, and Maple

Syrup, No Refined Sugar--Mitchell

 

The Maple Syrup Cookbook--Haedrich

 

Naturally Sweet Desserts : The Sugar-Free Dessert Cookbook--Weber

 

Sugar-Free Cookbook : Sweet Foods but No Sugar--Horsley

 

Sweet & Natural Baking : Sugar-Free, Flavorful Desserts from Mani's

Bakery--Niall

http://livrite.com/sugar1.htm

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

DietaryTipsForHBP

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The complete " Whole Body " Health line consists of the " AIM GARDEN TRIO "

Ask About Health Professional Support Series: AIM Barleygreen

 

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

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We have made every effort to ensure that the information included in these pages

is accurate. However, we make no guarantees nor can we assume any responsibility

for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, product, or

process discussed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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